The subject matter herein relates generally to connector assemblies.
Some electrical systems utilize electrical connectors to interconnect two circuit boards, such as a motherboard and daughtercard. Signal loss and/or signal degradation is a problem in known electrical systems. For example, cross talk results from an electromagnetic coupling of the fields surrounding an active conductor or differential pair of conductors and an adjacent conductor or differential pair of conductors. The strength of the coupling generally depends on the separation between the conductors, thus, cross talk may be significant when the electrical connectors are placed in close proximity to each other.
Moreover, as speed and performance demands increase, known electrical connectors are proving to be insufficient. Additionally, there is a desire to increase the density of electrical connectors to increase throughput of the electrical system, without an appreciable increase in size of the electrical connectors, and in some cases, a decrease in size of the electrical connectors. Such increase in density and/or reduction in size causes further strains on performance.
In order to address performance, some known systems utilize shielding to reduce interference between the contacts of the electrical connectors. However, the shielding utilized in known systems is not without disadvantages. For instance, electrically connecting the grounded components of the two electrical connectors at the mating interface of the electrical connectors is difficult and defines an area where signal degradation occurs due to improper shielding at the interface. For example, some known systems include ground contacts on both electrical connectors that are connected together to electrically connect the ground circuits of the electrical connectors. Typically, the connection between the ground contacts is located at a single point of contact.
A need remains for an electrical system having improved shielding to meet particular performance demands.